Supporting device



A. C. MCNULTY SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed Oct.

Nov. 17, 1931.

25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 17, `1931 n strrroarmefniivlon v My invention relatesto supporting {de-V vices such as may be used for supporting pipes,gcables, and the like, andconstitutes an improvement over the supporting device .5 disclosed V in myl prior Patent"#1,604,590,

dated October 26, 19276.r- 4

YIn my prior patent', above referred to, there is disclosed a supporting device 'which comprises a pair of awsthat` areadapted to embrace the support. Each of the jaws is bifurcated atv one end so as to'provide parallel arms or projections.rThese arms embrace a block to which they arepivotallyp secured. The blockis bored centrally'thereof and is internally threaded. Ak rod yin threaded engagementwith the block extends therefrom and has a strap for engaging the object to be supported. Ther jaws'are piv-y otally secured to the block sothat they may be moved toward fand romeac'h other to embrace the supporttherebetween, andthey are.V held inclamping relation to thesupport by a bolt passing through the" j aws.'

By `my present invention, I provide clamping members lwhich yare adapted to receive andclamp a support, the clampingfaction of the members being dependent upon-the weight of the object supported by the supporting device. The clamping members are universal in their application inv that they are applicable to various sizes and' types of beams. j

In accordance with this invention,jI provide a clamping member -for thepsupporting device comprising opposed lprojections which vare adapted to receive a support therebetween. The object to be supported is suspended from* the :clamping member, and means are provided for 4resolving Vthe weightof theobject supported-into fapluralityof `forces acting in diierent. directions and causing the projections of the clamping member to engage ropposite surfaces of the Y support and clamp the, support therebetween@ l Y i Specifically, I providefa supporting device which comprisesa substantiallyl C shaped clamping member which Visf-adapted 'to free ceive Ya support between the opposed proe jections thereof. Oiset from thefoppose tru'nnion's. 'These projections are lsuchvrthat projections of the clampingfmember there 1 islaholefthroughwhich a bolt extends, and tothe boltlinks are pivotally secured on either side of the clamping 'member and eX- tend therefroml' These1 links'. engage vtrunnions" extendingfrom twojopposed face'sof f a'fnut. A rodinthreadedfengagement with the nut extendstherefrom and is'provided at its lower end witha similar nut, the trunmonsfof which arepadapted to receive :the

ends of" a strap which may entend around v the object to be supported. By locating,v h'epoint yof clampingmembver to pivot about 'one ofy the projections and clamp thesupportpbetwe'en vthe projections.` ff y yThe trunnionsl onthe nutto which Vthe linkmembers f are secured are providedwith fpro jectionsextending at rightangles" tofthe e the links may f be placed yon the trunnions kwith the` projections in place., However,

Slispefnsiolf from th'eclampingmember to one side'ofkthe pro; j c

after the linksfare'on the trunnio'ns the proc jections prevent rthe links from y moving 'axially with A`respectto the trunnions and be @ming 121.601' .entlly fisengagedY from *the trunnionsjk i n The inventionwillbefmore clearly ui'niilier` Y' 'stood from thefollowing -particular, description 'of the vembodiments thereof shown in the accompanyingdrawings, inwhichz .Fig'. l isaside elevation' of a supporting deviceconstructed in accordance'with my invention', 1 y y n Fig. 2is anend elevation ojE-thesame; j Fig. 3 is a planofrthe same","partly insection and taken on the*` line of Fig. 1;

Fig. l fa' side elevation of la'fmodified lform of the supporting de viceg'A 2 l Y rFigi, 51S arlanof thegs'ame; j 1 c I Fig. 6 is aside elevationof afurther modi.'- ied form'or` my invention;

Fig."Tisl an end elevation ofthe'same; Fig.. 8 is'als'o an endy elevation 'of the, same showingthe end op'p'rositegto'thatshowri` in g' d Figli Y 10ovr l Fig. 9 is a perspective of the nut used in the supporting device; and

Fig. l is a perspective of an abutment member used in conjunction with the forms Y of the device shown inFigs. l to' 8 inclusive.

In Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, the supporting de- Vice is shown as it is applied to anlordinary I-beam 1. In this form of the invention the supporting Vdevice' comprises two clamping members 2. The clamping membersV 2 are substantially C shaped, having opposed projections 3 and 4 Vwhich are adapted to receive the ange of the l-beamtherebetween. TheA clampingV members 2 are substantially wider near the lower end thereof vand terminate at Y their lower extremities in projections through which holes 5 are bored transversely thereof. TheV axes of t-he holes 5 are to thev rear Aof the projections 3 and 4 andare contained in *diagonal planes passing through thel projections 3. The clamping members2 are also provided with slots 6 through which a bolt 7 is adapted topass. The slots 6 pass through Y ofthe object'suspendedfrom the links 9 and' 10 is resolved into a plurality of forces acting V3 5 in different directions. Components of thel weightV ofthe object` supported actto turn the Vclamping member aboutthe Vprojection 3 as a` pivot, the surfaces of the projection 3 bein round as shown so that the clamping 'memglbermay rock about the projection under the' Yinfluence of these s components. The clampingmember is thus rocked about the projection 3 until the-'projection l engages the opposite'surfaces of the flange of the I- beam and the flange, is vsecurely clamped betweenrthe projections. By virtue of the fact that the clamping members, as explained immediately above, are caused', under the influence of the weight supported, to rock about the projection' 3 as apivot, it will be obvious ,that the, clampingmembers will clamp any VSize beam, the onlyliIni-tation being that the thickness of the beam or support issuch that it will extend between the projections V ofthe clamping member. .s e

'The' bolt 7, vextending through the clampingmembers 2,.is providedto maintain the clampingfmembers in position to embrace -and clamp theV flanges of the I-beam. The( rear ofthe clampingv members are curved so that irrespective of the positionof rotationlof the clamping members about the projections l3, the rear surfaces of the clamping Y.members i' willbe lateral yto the bolt?? andparallel to J the surfaces ofthe washers 11 and' nuts on the bolt. .The bolt 7 is held against the lower surface of the I-beam by the base 6 of the slots' in the projections l of the clamping members.

.The ends of the links 9 and 10, opposite to the ends secured to the clamping members, are provided with holes 13 through which trunnions 14:'on tivo opposed faces of a nut 15 extend.- The relation of thetrunnions to the links is such that the trunnions are free toV turn' :within the links. '.Gn the ends of the trunnions there are projections 16 extending atl right angles to the trunnions. The projectionsY onthe, trunnions are so proportioned 'that the links may be placedover the trunnions with the projectionsthereon. In-

assembling vthe device, the projection is lirst inserted through the'opening 13 in a link and the link is then twisted so thatthe opening therein is parallel to the axis of the trunnion lll when thelinkmay beslipped over the trunnion. Vhen in position and secured to Vthe clamping member by the bolt 8, theprojections 16 on the trunnions prevent axial lmoviementiof the links-9 and lO with respect to the trunnions and maintain the links in place against Yaccidental displacement. As shown, these projections 16 may be cast integral with the trunnions 14 and thus avoid the necessity of beading over the ends of the trunn'ions afterthe links have been assembled on Vthe' trunnions. Y.

. YThe nut 15 is internally threaded and engages the end of athreaded rod 17 `which extendstherefrom. V,On Ithe-lower end ofthe rod, there is a nut 18 similar to that described above. The trunnions 19 on this nut engage Vopenings in the ends of aV strap. The strap consistsy of two semi-circular pieces20 and 2l whichare secured together at the *lower* end thereof by a bolt22 passing `through lat-v eral flanges 2 3 fformed on the ends of the two pieces of the strap; This strap passes around the object to be supported, which, in this instance, is shown as apipe 24. v v A The upper en-dof therod is provided with aright hand thread and the lower end is provided with a left handthread. Consequently, by'rotating the rod the distance between the pipe and the'support may be ad- 5 justed so that the pipe may be given'A any1 de-` sired'inclination or level. The rod may be rotated ina simple mannerv by use of thewell known'pipe wrench. Y Y

In Figs. 4 and 5, I; have shown a modied form of the supporting device which is particularly appli-cable to channel beams. In thisY form' of the `supporting device a single Vclamping member 2 and: a single pair of links 9 and 10 are used. Theobject to bevsupported is suspended from this lpair of-links in the same manner as described in connectionwith the form shown in Figs.Vv 1ste 3, inclusive. vllie clamping .member is maintained in clamping position with respect to a flange of the channel beam 24 by a bolt 25 having washers 26 and nuts 27 on the ends thereof and an abutment member. The abutment memberV is l shown in perspective in Fig. 10 and consists of a plate 28 having lateral projections 29. The plate is adapted to abut against theiweb of the channel beam 24', the projections extending beneath the flange. The bolt 25 extends through this abutment member and the clamping member. The clamping member is held in position by the bolt 25 which is in turn held in position against the lower surface of the flange of the channel beam by the base 6 of the slot 6 in the projection 4 of the clamping member as hereinbefore explained; The abutment, in conjunction with the bolt, prevents the clamping member from moving out of clamping position with respect to the flange of the channel beam. In Figs. 6, 7 and 8 a modified form of the supporting device shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is illustrated. In this form, the links 9 and 10 are dispensed with. The clamping member is made in two parts 30 and 31 which may be secured together by rivets. Each of the parts 30 and 3l have a depending projection 32 which forms a bifurcated depending projection when the two parts are secured together. Each of the projections has a hole 33 therethrough through which the trunnions 14 ony the nut l5 extend, the trunnions on the nut being placed in the holes before the two parts of the clamping member are secured together.

Y Like the form shown in Figs. 4 and rand described above, this form also provides for limited adjustment of the object supported,v with respect to the support.

From the above description of the embodi-Y s ments shown in the drawings, it willbe` apparent to those skilled in the art that I have devised a supporting device which is universal in its application in that it isapplicable to any and all types and sizes of beams,land that I have provided a supporting device which rmly clamps the support, the clamping action of the supporting device being proportionate to the weight supported.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details of the embodiments shown by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of my invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A supporting device comprising a clamping member adapted to embrace a support,a link pivotally secured at one end of clamping memberk adapted to -embrace'a support, a nut pivotally secured to said clamp-y ried by the rod for attachment to the object to be supported. f

4. A supporting device comprising two V*clamping members, each clamping member having opposed projections adapted to receive asupport therebetween, a link pivotally connected at one end of one of said clamping members, a second link pivotally connected at one end to the other of said clamping members, a nut pivotally connected to both of said links so the clamping members may swing toward and from one anotherand embrace a support therefor, a bolt extending throughsaid clamping members to hold them in position to embrace a support, a rod in threaded engagement with said nut and ex'- tending therefrom, and means carried by the rod for attachment to the-.object to be supported.`

In witness whereof, my signature. v l

` ALEXISCOPP MGNULTY.

p I hereunto subscribe said clamping member, a nut pivotally sej cured to the other end of said link, a rod. in threaded'engagement with the nut and extending therefrom, and means carried by the rod for attachment to the objectV to be supported- 2. A supporting device comprising a 

